Dizzy

Album: Hunkpapa (1989)
Charted: 85
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The stepsisters Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly formed Throwing Muses in 1980, when both were 14. A few years later, the group signed with the upstart British label 4AD and released two albums that earned critical acclaim but sold poorly. In America, the group got a deal with the Warner Bros. imprint Sire Records, which was hot for a hit and demanded a single from their next album, Hunkpapa. Hersh, the primary songwriter in the group, complied, delivering "Dizzy."

    Before we move on, let's explain how Hersh defines "single": "A lousy song that'll fool dummies."

    If you like "Dizzy," don't despair - it's a catchy tune with an intriguing storyline. Lots of other people like it too. Hersh though, hears music in ways the typical listener doesn't. A head injury when she was 16 left her hearing sounds nobody else could hear. She also developed a dissociative personality to channel them. Music, to Hersh, could be tormenting, exhausting, and very intense. With "Dizzy," she was just giving the record company what they wanted on the sonic palate of popular taste.

    And it worked: 4AD commissioned a video and "Dizzy" made inroads on Modern Rock radio, becoming one of the band's most popular songs.
  • The song is set in Texas, there's a Native American involved and somebody is on the run. But it's not clear what's going on - perhaps the confusion is intentional, to evoke dizziness? When Songfacts asked Kristin Hersh about the track, she replied: "That's not a real song. It was a joke, making fun of Warner Brothers when they kept pressuring me to give them a single. I don't believe in the lowest common denominator and kept fighting for quality, but that's a losing battle in the corporate recording industry. We weren't planning on including 'Dizzy' on the record because it's so hilariously bad. Lesson learned: don't make jokes that nobody'll get."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?

Real or Spinal Tap

Real or Spinal TapMusic Quiz

They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.

In The Cards

In The CardsSong Writing

Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Jimmy Webb

Jimmy WebbSongwriter Interviews

Webb talks about his classic songs "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman" and "MacArthur Park."

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired MenSong Writing

Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.